Efficient Ruddlesden-Popper Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes with Randomly Oriented Nanocrystals

Ruddlesden-Popper phase (RP-phase) perovskites that consist of 2D perovskite slabs interleaved with bulky organic ammonium (OA) are favorable for light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The critical limitation of LED applications is that the insulating OA arranged in a preferred orientation limits charge transport. Therefore, the ideal solution is to achieve a randomly connected structure that can improve charge transport without hampering the confinement of the electron-hole pair. Here, a structurally modulated RP-phase metal halide perovskite (MHP), (PEA)(2)(CH3NH3)(m-1)PbmBr3m+1 is introduced to make the randomly oriented RP-phase unit and ensure good connection between them by applying modified nanocrystal pinning, which leads to an increase in the efficiency of perovskite LEDs (PeLEDs). The randomly connected RP-phase MHP forces contact between inorganic layers and thereby yields efficient charge transport and radiative recombination. Combined with an optimal dimensionality, (PEA)(2)(CH3NH3)(2)Pb3Br10, the structurally modulated RP-phase MHP exhibits increased photoluminescence quantum efficiency, from 0.35% to 30.3%, and their PeLEDs show a 2,018 times higher current efficiency (20.18 cd A(-1)) than in the 2D PeLED (0.01 cd A(-1)) and 673 times than in the 3D PeLED (0.03 cd A(-1)) using the same film formation process. This approach provides insight on how to solve the limitation of RP-phase MHP for efficient PeLEDs.

A Case of Infantile Fungal Urinary Tract Infection

Urinary tract infection is common in the pediatric population. The most common causative agents are bacteria, among which Escherichia coli is the most frequent uropathogen. Although fungal urinary tract infection is rare in the healthy pediatric population, it is relatively common among hospitalized patients. Fungus may be isolated from the urine of immunocompromised patients or that of patients with indwelling catheters. The most common cause of funguria is Candida albicans. Although more than 50% of Candida isolates belong to non-albicans Candida , the prevalence of non-albicans candiduria is increasing. Herein, we report a case of community-acquired candiduria in a 4-month-old immunocompetent male infant who had bilateral vesicoureteral reflux and was administered antibiotic prophylaxis. He was diagnosed with urinary tract infection caused by Candida lusitaniae and was managed with fluconazole

A User-Friendly Software Package to Develop Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) Inputs and Suggest Low Impact Development Scenarios

Increases in imperviousness due to urbanization and industrialization increases stormwater runoff and nonpoint source pollution. Approaches reducing these hydrological impacts include low impact development (LID) methods. Various methods have been developed and applied to date, and an evaluation of stormwater runoff and a reduction of non-point source pollution has been conducted. The Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) is capable of simulating various LID approaches, although selecting and implementing a suitable method for a specific target area, when considering the cost of various low impact development approaches, requires significant time and effort. A software program called Storm Water Management Model–low impact development design program (SWMM-ING), that can be optimally applied to deal with the cost of low impact development methods, was developed in this study. For SWMM-ING, an optimization process was conducted for low impact development, which can reduce stormwater runoff by 10%, suspended solid by 15%, and total phosphorus by 15%. The spatial arrangement and the area of the permeable pavement, bioretention cells, infiltration trenches, and green roofs were determined. Because SWMM-ING has a user-friendly graphical interface, and the optimization process of the low impact development approach is simple and straightforward, it has the advantage of not requiring specialized knowledge

Hair Growth Regulation by Fibroblast Growth Factor 12 (FGF12)

The fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family has various biological functions, including cell growth, tissue regeneration, embryonic development, metabolism, and angiogenesis. In the case of hair growth, several members of the FGF family, such as FGF1 and FGF2, are involved in hair growth, while FGF5 has the opposite effect. In this study, the regulation of the hair growth cycle by FGF12 was investigated. To observe its effect, the expression of FGF12 was downregulated in mice and outer root sheath (ORS) by siRNA transfection, while FGF12 overexpression was carried out using FGF12 adenovirus. For the results, FGF12 was primarily expressed in ORS cells with a high expression during the anagen phase of hair follicles. Knockdown of FGF12 delayed telogen-to-anagen transition in mice and decreased the hair length in vibrissae hair follicles. It also inhibited the proliferation and migration of ORS cells. On the contrary, FGF12 overexpression increased the migration of ORS cells. FGF12-overexpressed ORS cells induced the telogen-to-anagen transition in the animal model. In addition, FGF12 overexpression regulated the expression of PDGF-CC, MDK, and HB-EGF, and treatment of these factors exhibited hair growth promotion. Altogether, FGF12 promoted hair growth by inducing the anagen phase of hair follicles, suggesting the potential for hair loss therapy

Progress and Prospects of Nanoscale Emitter Technology for AR/VR Displays

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are emerging interactive technologies that realize the "metaverse," leading to a totally new digital interactive experience in daily life in various aspects. In order to provide users with a more immersive experience, displays for AR/VR have rapidly evolved to achieve high resolutions and a large color gamut on small panels. Recently, nanoscale light emitters such as quantum dots (QDs) and metal halide perovskites (MHPs) with high photoluminescence quantum efficiency and color purity levels have garnered much attention as color conversion materials in AR/VR displays. However, the low material stability and the absence of a high-resolution patterning process that does not impair the optical properties of nanoscale emitters act as obstacles preventing the realization of high-resolution AR/VR displays. Here, the state-of-the-art technologies constituting current AR/VR devices are reviewed from an industrial point of view and the recent progress in QD and MHP emitter technologies are discussed, including their basic structural properties, synthesis strategies to enhance the stability, advanced patterning technologies, down-conversion and light-emitting diode applications. Based on the review, the authors' perspective on future research directions of nanoscale emitters for next-generation AR/VR displays is presented.N

Systems approach to characterize the metabolism of liver cancer stem cells expressing CD133

Liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs) have attracted attention because they cause therapeutic resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Understanding the metabolism of LCSCs can be a key to developing therapeutic strategy, but metabolic characteristics have not yet been studied. Here, we systematically analyzed and compared the global metabolic phenotype between LCSCs and non-LCSCs using transcriptome and metabolome data. We also reconstructed genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs) for LCSC and non-LCSC to comparatively examine differences in their metabolism at genome-scale. We demonstrated that LCSCs exhibited an increased proliferation rate through enhancing glycolysis compared with non-LCSCs. We also confirmed that MYC, a central point of regulation in cancer metabolism, was significantly up-regulated in LCSCs compared with non-LCSCs. Moreover, LCSCs tend to have less active fatty acid oxidation. In this study, the metabolic characteristics of LCSCs were identified using integrative systems analysis, and these characteristics could be potential cures for the resistance of liver cancer cells to anticancer treatments

HBV‐Induced Increased N6 Methyladenosine Modification of PTEN RNA Affects Innate Immunity and Contributes to HCC

Background and aimsEpitranscriptomic modification of RNA has emerged as the most prevalent form of regulation of gene expression that affects development, differentiation, metabolism, viral infections, and most notably cancer. We have previously shown that hepatitis B virus (HBV) transcripts are modified by N6 methyladenosine (m6 A) addition. HBV also affects m6 A modification of several host RNAs, including phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), a well-known tumor suppressor. PTEN plays a critical role in antiviral innate immunity and the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Reports have shown that PTEN controlled interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF-3) nuclear localization by negative phosphorylation of IRF-3 at Ser97, and PTEN reduced carcinogenesis by inhibiting the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway.Approach and resultsHere, we show that HBV significantly increases the m6 A modification of PTEN RNA, which contributes to its instability with a corresponding decrease in PTEN protein levels. This is reversed in cells in which the expression of m6 A methyltransferases is silenced. PTEN expression directly increases activated IRF-3 nuclear import and subsequent interferon synthesis. In the absence of PTEN, IRF-3 dephosphorylation at the Ser97 site is decreased and interferon synthesis is crippled. In chronic HBV patient biopsy samples, m6 A-modified PTEN mRNA levels were uniformly up-regulated with a concomitant decrease of PTEN mRNA levels. HBV gene expression also activated the PI3K/AKT pathway by regulating PTEN mRNA stability in HCC cell lines.ConclusionsThe m6 A epitranscriptomic regulation of PTEN by HBV affects innate immunity by inhibiting IRF-3 nuclear import and the development of HCC by activating the PI3K/AKT pathway. Our studies collectively provide new insights into the mechanisms of HBV-directed immune evasion and HBV-associated hepatocarcinogenesis through m6 A modification of the host PTEN mRNAs